As We Know It
by Zurizip
Summary: Batou and the Major detail the end of section nine and the fate of Japan in the last great war which tore the world apart. Appleseed Crossover.
1. Chapter 1

**This fic is a little old, but I picked it up and started working on it again when I saw it was pretty straightforward. Cross over with Appleseed, but mostly an excuse to write the end of the world in war. You know, that kind of thing. **

_Motoko – they're coming._

_ Got it – look sharp. _

_ As if I look any other way – _Batou's voice was wry as he ducked under a slab of a fallen building, while the major hid herself in a crevice created by what he suspected was part of a roof and a bathtub. Not exactly a glamorous hiding spot, he thought, especially for her. But then, they'd both swallowed their pride so much…

His thoughts were interrupted by helicopter blades slicing through the air. _And there they are, right on time! _He said almost jovially over the comlink they'd established so long ago. With the world network on the fritz, they'd had to juryrig their own, and it was a pretty sweet deal, all things considered. A three mile range was nothing to sneeze at.

_Batou – they're opening the hatches, get ready._

_ I know the drill, _Batou reminded her almost gently.

There was no verbal reply, but Batou knew in his ghost that she'd heard and understood. She was nervous, though as always she hid it well. She had reason to be. They'd been having trouble with landwalkers lately – the kind of thing that the Major had had trouble beating on her own and without the assistance of a BFG, might not have managed at all. They were everywhere – sometimes manned, sometimes not.

The unmanned ones were easy – between the two of them they could hack and scramble the signal enough that the thing couldn't move. But the manned ones… well, he didn't relish the idea of having to re-repair his arm that was three times repaired already.

Unfortunately, he could tell already that these were manned – and not by rookies either. Crackling at the edge of his nerves, he knew Motoko saw it too. _Damn, _he said, _should we scram?_

_ Too late, _she replied, _these are birds. _

Batou glanced up again without a movement, and cursed inwardly amidst his piece of the wreckage. They were flying – and someone that had enough control over a land walker to fly it like the two that were now slowly surveying the area was even more dangerous than one that could fight on the ground. Batou stayed very still as they began to look over the area, searching… searching… it was an obvious grid pattern, but he knew both he and the major were pinned. _Shit, Major, you don't think-_

_ They're looking for us, _she confirmed, and he felt her take a metaphorical breath. _Wait till they set eyes on one of us, then attack all out._

It was the best element of surprise they had. Batou waited, suddenly realizing that his hiding spot was better than hers. If the one with the big metal ears just looked to his ri-

"Deun-augh!"

He'd done it. Batou heard Motoko's gun fire off, and could almost see the snarl on her face as he heard her kick the cyborg away and dash under him – but he was already on top of the other land-walker, unable to see the occupant as he leapt onto it's back. It was dangerous, and the thing pitched like hell, but he grabbed a hold of the collar and managed to find the plug with a triumphant shout.

"Batou!" The major called, and he jumped just in time to avoid a hit, and then landed back on the walker with a clang. There was a small scream as he did, and suddenly the contraption pitched, sending him rolling to the ground. He snorted as he stood up though – knowing he'd managed to scramble the flight systems enough that the girl inside didn't really have a chance in hell of regaining control. Writing her off for the moment, he went to help Motoko, bounding up a slab of fallen rock to land beside her, facing the cyborg.

"Deunan!" it cried in alarm as the other land walker crashed, half turning.

_Leg up?_ Motoko asked, and in the same moment, Batou squatted and held out his hands for her to step up.

In a flash, the major put her foot down, and Batou aided her lift to send her soaring up into the air and onto the cyborg's back.

Batou immediately backed away – mostly because the cyborg began to buck worse than anything he'd seen, even forcing the Major to slip her grip slightly – and he almost lost his own head when the bunny-eared thing swung its gun at him, a quick duck the only thing that saved him. There was the hiss of a released seal, but he was too busy trying to restrain the damn bot so the major could fry him to notice…until suddenly it stopped.

He looked up, sure that Motoko had finally plugged in and hit it hard, but had just enough time to swing his gun up as the cyborg leveled its gun at his face. Peering over, he realized that Motoko had only let go to get into a similar situation with a short, lithe brunette.

The cyborg clicked slightly as it looked him over with insectoid eyes. "Motoko Kusinagi and Batou of Tokyo section Nine, I presume?"

They both stiffened, but it was Motoko that replied first. "What do you want with us?"

The woman – Dunan it must have been – nodded to the cyborg, and they both lowered their weapons, dropping the trigger to show… friendliness? Batou frowned. "Well?" he asked, "You heard the lady."

One of them was about to speak, Batou heard the click of the cyborg's voice unit activating, but he was interrupted by a helicopter overhead, the noise drowning out just about everything. All of the fighters held their hands up against the small debris whipped up as the helicopter landed, and as the blades slowed the door opened, and an angel stepped out.

Well, that was an exaggeration, really, he thought, but damned if the woman who walked down the steps in black stilettos and a black lacey dress that looked like something the girls in Tokyo used to love – with a wide, white belt around her waist – belonged there in the battlefield. Oddly enough, the two they'd been fighting stood up straighter as she jumped the last step and walked over, smiling widely. "Dunan – Briarios, good job," she said happily, and peered up at Batou. "Are you Batou?" she asked.

If he'd had eyes, he would have blinked, and he knew Motoko was carrying out the action for him. "Uh… yeah," he said, reaching up and rubbing his neck with a confused frown at the girl in front of him. "That's me."

"Oh good – then this is Motoko?" She asked, nodding behind him to the major.

"How do you know us?" Motoko said, stepping away from Dunan to frown at the girl.

"Oh, we've been looking for you to for awhile," she said, smiling happily, "It's so good to meet you! I'm Hitomi, and we're all from Olympus. We're here to extend an offer to be on our team to both of you."

"Team?" Motoko said cautiously, eyes flicking to Batou.

"Mhmm," Hitmoi said, looking over them both. "I am the main recruiter for ESWAT, the elite police force of Olympus, the utopia of man."

**I've been out of fandom so much, a review would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Reviews would be nice, thanks. Enjoy either way. **

"Anyway – after the take over of the world network, we realized how few techno-savvy people we really had, and started looking in world records..."

"And found us?" Batou interrupted Hitomi, sitting back with his beer. Damn – he'd almost forgotten how good the stuff was, it'd been years since he'd had any. "That's pretty far-fetched."

"Not really," Hitomi said, smiling a little as she stirred her espresso, having taken the same drink as Motoko, "You both were connected to the world network without authorization at one point, weren't you?"

Batou glanced at Motoko, who was merely staring holes at the other woman, as if trying to decide whether this situation was really what it seemed. He was with her on that one, to be honest. "Yeah," he finally said, looking back at the bioroid, "we hooked in a few times once it was running to see the news."

Hitomi hummed. "I'll never understand why you both stayed out there – there's civilization now, the world war is over. You could have gone to Poseidon instead of going all the way over the pacific!"

"Those greedy bastards?" Batou burst out incredulously, "Like we'd let them touch the goods!"

Motoko frowned slightly. "We know that – but until the take over of the world network Japan was still… acceptable." Motoko finally said, "And after that – fighting is what we were designed to do."

The woman sighed. "You and Deunan…" She looked them over. "Did you have trouble repairing your bodies?" she asked, "I know Briareos has trouble sometimes…and you two are so advanced – you even look human!" She blinked as the two gave her odd looks. "Oh, I'm sorry, was that offensive?" she asked, worried.

"Don't worry about it," Motoko said gruffly, "we managed to download a lot of the maintenance manuals before Japan collapsed fully, and the rest we worked out ourselves."

Batou noticed that she didn't say anything about the fact that she still had trouble with pinpoint balance on one foot due to the fiber optic nerves in her toes being on the fritz – or that his eyes still occasionally went haywire and gave him and distorted image of the world – sometimes it was even upside down. They'd gotten on very well, all things considered.

Hitomi leaned forward. "It sounds exciting," she said, smiling, "we have awhile before Deunan and Briareos will be back, and I can have dinner brought in here – can you tell me the whole story?"

Batou and Motoko glanced at each other briefly, guardedly. Did they want to? Batou shrugged slightly. He didn't really care – they wouldn't reveal any secrets or theirs, but they could tell the basic stuff. Motoko nodded slightly. "Where should we start?" she asked.

"Oh, wherever you think the beginning is," Hitomi said pleasantly, "I'm in no hurry."

The two looked at each other. They both knew exactly when that was.

"Japan managed to stay out of the global war for a long time due to our ministration's neutral policy," Motoko began, "And no one really bothered us – the biggest shift we saw was economic – American goods became more scarce, European practically unheard of."

"Actually it was good for our economy," Batou added, "We sold more in-country goods to our people, and more Japanese goods to other countries."

Motoko nodded, and then grew quiet for a moment, eyes half-lidded in thought. "America then decided they didn't like our neutrality – taking the token that if we weren't their friends, we were their enemies."

Batou looked to the side, and Hitomi suddenly realized exactly what story they were about to tell. She sighed a little. This story was going to be filled with all the emotions she was uncomfortable with…

Aramaki sat at his desk, frowning at the file in his hands. He didn't like the direction this war was taking. America had tried to forge an alliance with them twice now, but Kayabuki was firm – she would remain neutral. No one would have Japanese troops, weapons or supplies unless they paid for them up front. He sighed. Getting too old for this… and he couldn't shake the words his father had said. "Don't turn into me – finding a woman gets harder as you age."

Well, he was old enough he might as well write it off. Oh well. He was married to his job – that would have to be fulfillment enough.

There was an odd click, and he twitched, looking up and reaching for his desk drawer, where he still kept a gun – but hadn't even begun to pull before he was looking up a barrel himself.

"Major?" the title was more out of habit than anything, but he couldn't help it. She looked more fierce than he'd ever seen her – no exceptions – dark glasses pushed up around spiky purple hair and her trench coat wrapped tightly around her. "I… didn't hear you come in," he said, wondering for a split second if he'd actually done anything that warranted her killing him.

"Aramaki," she said sharply – a soldier's tone, but it held a spark of something unreal. He frowned immediately. That was _fear. _"Get everyone in here – yesterday. There's a mass air strike planned on this city in forty-five minutes. Somebody's got to survive it – or else Japan as a country will collapse."

He blinked, trying to process the information as she put her gun away. This… he closed his eyes for a moment, taking a brief moment of meditation. Then he did the only thing he could do. "Very well. They're all here in any case," he said, and reached down, pressing the emergency page button. It would have his core team running to this office in moments. He looked up, saying gruffly. "Good to have you aboard, Major."

She almost cracked a smirk, but the expression didn't reach her eyes.

Aramaki wondered if this was his last day on earth.

"You're just the herald of bad times, aren't ya?" Ishikawa asked her as soon as she'd told them. They'd all set their clocks to hers – all of them said thirty five minutes.

"Beside the point," she muttered, but looked at them all, especially at Togusa, who was pale and beginning to sweat. "We have to get as many as the true politicians underground as possible."

"I will go to the prime minister," Aramaki said, standing, "Once she is safe we can warn the city at large."

The major nodded, "If it's an air strike they'll be focusing on collapsing buildings – not only the most deaths, but the most economical effect if they get the right ones."

"You're telling me they've got that big of a vendetta against Japan for being neutral?!" Batou snarled, one hand fisted so tightly he shook slightly.

The major looked at him. "Not only that," she said, "There's a blood grudge between the countries that goes back as far as the first world wars."

"Pearl Harbor – you've got to be kidding me!" Togusa burst out, standing and pacing, "That's ancient history!"

"It's also convenient," Seito murmured, arms crossed tightly, his good eye, "A good battle cry. You've heard of remember the Alamo?"

Togusa gulped and looked down. The major observed that despite his gaining reputation as a leader in section nine – this news had almost reduced him back to being a rookie. Then she realized why. "Togusa, go get your wife and children if you want," she said, almost softly.

He looked up at her suddenly, and there was a crackle of near disbelief in the room. Since using Togusa as bait in the Solid State Society case, he'd fumed over and over about her lack of humanity, tendency to put an operation over it's people… "Thank you, Major," he said, and looked at Aramaki, who nodded. He would go whether he allowed it or not, why should he detract from his confidence to bring his family to safety.

"God's speed," he said as the man ran out. He looked at the remaining team and nodded to Motoko. "She is your commander," he said roughly, "Until I return. You have…" he looked at his watch, "thirty minutes. Give me at least twenty to secure the Prime minister – then sound the alarm."

"What if you haven't gotten the prime minister by then?" The major asked.

"I'll still have ten minutes," Aramaki said as he stood. He took his coat, and with all the dignity, walked out, leaving the major with Batou, Seito, Paz, Ishikawa, and Bomer.

She looked around, grimacing. "If any of you have special people, now would be the time to go and get them."

The men looked around at each other, but none of them rose.


	3. Chapter 3

**Watching the series again. Going to post the rest of what I have of this. Maybe I'll have something for it, maybe not. *shrug***

"That bombing didn't hit the prime minister, but it hit our team hard." Motoko said, voice dark. "We lost two out of seven. Togusa made it home, but got his family and a dozen others into a shelter and died to get it closed up. We dug out his wife and child, along with the other survivors a few days after the hit."

"He must have been very brave." Hitomi said softly. Motoko noted the tone of her voice – this woman was not only an expert diplomat, she was sincere. That was impressive.

"Yeah." Batou grunted. "He was good people. Our intelligence guy, Ishkawa also died about a day after the main attacks. Too much dust and smoke, and his lungs were still natural. But of course, you know it didn't stop there."

Hitomi nodded for them to continue.

"Aramaki and Kayabuki decided to stand their ground. We went to stand with them, of course, and the rest of the government which had survived. They'd hit some of the main buildings, and even with their warning we still lost half. The police and special forces were in tatters trying to keep order outside, so it was only us and a few others personally known by Kayabuki and Aramaki on the inside." She nodded faintly. "They asserted again their neutrality, even in the face of such an attack, and then the vultures descended."

* * *

Motoko and Batou sat in a double doorway, heads bowed but taking everything in, talking over the internal network. _You think they'll go for round two? _Batou asked, frowning.

_They don't need to. _Motoko replied. _They made their point. Japan wasn't much more than an example. _

_ What do you mean? _Batou nearly growled.

_They didn't want Japan. _Motoko said again. _They wanted the Arab Nations, who were also claiming neutral. To convince the one they wanted, they bombed the one they didn't._

"Damnit!" Batou shouted suddenly, punching the floor. Everyone in the hallway turned to look at them. He shifted, and then returned to his previous position, glaring at the floor. _You mean those bastards dropped incendiaries on us, killed Togusa and Ishikawa… just for that!?_

_ They didn't care who they hit, Batou, _Motoko muttered. _Just that they scared somebody. _

_ Don't you care!? _Batou growled. _Togusa is dead! His wife and daughter are sitting downstairs asking themselves why, and that's all they get!_

Motoko sighed, a little exasperated, standing up. _It's worse than that, Batou. What happens to a wounded animal on the plains?_

Batou looked up to her and seized. "No." He growled.

Motoko just nodded. _Hyenas. We've got to get the prime minister out of here.

* * *

_

"The European Union tried to offer Kayabuki assistance for taking revenge, and trust me, most of Japan was all over it." Batou said. "Kayabuki refused. She wanted Japan to claw its own way back, without owing anyone anything. Aramaki stood behind her on that. When they couldn't cajole her…"

* * *

"I can assure you that I will not surrender to the pressure of the European Union," Kayabuki said, hands folded on her desk, facing the TV cameras. As always, she was self assured and poised. "Japan is strong. Our economy is greater than it has been in many years, and we will recover from this unprovoked attack on our s-,"

There wasn't even time to gasp as one of the cabinet members walked on to the screen and bent to whisper in the prime minister's ear. She gasped and the man stepped away. "End it!" Aramaki shouted as the prime minister fell forward, eyes still wide in surprise, a needle in her back. "Major!"

_He's down already. _Batou growled, _I got him as he walked out_.

Motoko turned to look at Aramaki to nod that the perp was down, but Aramaki was merely staring at Kayabuki in unprecedented horror. He reached out, tenderly swept her hair aside, and shook his head.

_Too late. _Motoko said. A cold horror swept the capital building.

* * *

"…the frightened little lambs murdered her." Batou finished, a sneer of disgust on his features.

"She's still memorialized, isn't she?" Hitomi asked. "I've seen pictures of her fountain."

"The inscription was _I Will Not Surrender._" Batou said roughly.

"Aramaki had it made." Motoko added. "He died a few days after her. Having been her advisor, they worried he might step forward."

"Once he was gone, the four of us bailed." Batou said. "Found a nice underground hole in New Zealand and chilled out on the net for awhile."

"And when the global network collapsed?" Hitomi asked.

"Seito and Bormer were gone." Motoko said. "The connection loss had severed their minds from their bodies completely."

Batou picked it up from there. "We'd been out for a few months. In that time, Japan had been scoured, Australia had suffered the nanoplague, America was in complete economic shut down, the European union was dissolved, and the Arab Nations had managed to essentially turn inwards and destroy itself."

"Oh, and that was after the Tsunami, so New Zealand was pretty gone too, huh?" Hitomi asked.

Motoko and Batou glanced at each other, and then shrugged. "More or less." Motoko muttered.

"We decided Japan was better than New Zealand after a year or two." Motoko said, shrugging. "And as we said. We're fighters. We took exception to things attacking us."

"So here we are." Batou said, shrugging. "That's the jist of it, anyway."

"Fascinating." Hitomi said. She stood. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to check on Deunan. Feel free to freshen up, there's also a few different foods in the refrigerator." She gave them a dazzling smile. "And if you think of things you need, please ring. We'd love to help, and I'm sure we can all learn together!"

"Got it." Motoko muttered, tipping a wave.

"Thanks." Batou echoed and sighed as Hitomi walked out. "Phew." He said. "All that cheerfulness has me exhausted."

"Funny, after the Tachikomas, I would have guessed you'd like her." Motoko said.

Batou chuckled. "Big difference between inquisitive adorable and diplomatic cute." He said.

"Oh, pardon me." Motoko responded, rolling her eyes. "I wasn't aware of the subtleties."

"There's all sorts!" Batou said, launching into the voice he used only when they seemed pretty safe. "Diplomatic cute, inquisitive adorable, sweet innocent, sweet naive, dumb blonde, Sultry Dangerous – that's you, by the way – though maybe you're more Sexy kick as-Oof!" He sat up from the end of the couch Motoko had kicked him over.

"I deserved that, didn't I?" He asked.

She didn't respond except to stare at the wall. "Help me hack this system, Batou. I want to check out this team they're recruiting us for."

* * *

**Well, that's all I have for now. I think I just wanted to kill section 9. That's how much I love them. **


End file.
